Gearing.



H. F. SNYDER.

GEARING.

, APPLICATION FILED .SEP'L 6, 1912v l m/1% Patented Oct. 28, 1913 3 SHEETS-SHEBT1 H. F. SNYDER.

GEARING,

APPLIGATION FILED SEPT. 6, 1012 Patented Oct. 28, 1913.

3 SHEETSSHEET 3.

0) I Inn 30 fwawfor UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HOWARD F. SNYDER, F NEWTON, IOWA, ASSIGNOR TO THE MAYTAG COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF IOWA.

GEARING.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 28, 1913.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that T, HOWARD F. SNYDER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Newton, county of Jasper, and State of Iowa, have invented new and useful Improvements in Gearing, of which the following is a specification.

It is the'object of the invention to provide a gearing suitable for use on Washing machines as a means for driving the agitator or dolly of the machine, insuring uniformity to its action and ease of operation.

More particularly, it is the object to so group the various elements of the gearing that they are all carried on a single bracket or support unaffected by the warping or swelling of the tub, and preferably so disposed that the everal elements can be assembled complete at the bench, and subsequently attached to the tub, even after shipment if desired. The gearing includes a rocking member in the nature of a bell crank adapted to swing toward and from the dolly shaft and serving to drive the reciprocating rocking bar. The bell crank is connected through a pitman and speeded gear to a fly wheel serviceable for the storage of energy to smooth out the otherwise fluctuating load on the gearing, giving to the structure as a whole a smoothness and ease of operation desirable in this class of machine. The rack bar is so associated with the cover that it automatically disengages from the dolly pinion when the cover is raised.

These and other objects and advanta es will become clear from the following etailed description which is to be taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings whereinto Figure 1 is a perspective view showing the complete gearing with a portion of the internal gear broken away to expose the fly wheel pinion. Fig. 2 is a detail of the rack bar. Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation through the main supporting casting showing the fly wheel and its driving gear in section. Figs. 4, and 6 are details of the supporting bracket. Fig. 7 is a perspective View showing the cover partly raised.

The embodiment heredisclosed comprises a support including a tub 1 mounted on legs i 2 and provided at the top with a cover hinged to a stationary top member 4:. Supi ported from the cover is the usual shaft,

$5 carrying at its lower end a suitable dollyl for engagement with the clothes to swing them about through the soapy water normally in the tub. The upper end of this dolly shaft carries a pinion suitably housed and positioned for engagement with a rack bar 5 which is reciprocated backward and forward when the mechanism is in operation. The front end of this rack bar carries an eye 6 which encircles a guide rod 7 carried at itsouter end by a bracket 8, and supported at its inner end by a lug 9 which serves as a shoulder holding the rack bar to its work on the pinion. The rack bar is offset at 10 near its middle and is pivotally connected at its outer end to a swing ing casting 11 in the nature oi a bell crank and having an integral socket for the reciprocation of a wooden handle 12, whereby the gear mechanism may be driven.

The bell crank 11 is pivotally supported at 13 and is provided at its outerportion with a double clevis 14 threaded and locked to the upper end of a pitman 15. The lower end of this pitman carries a casting 16 titted over a crank 17 on the outer face of a combined crank disk and internal gear 18 mounted on a short shaft 19 carried on two sets of ball bearings 20 seated in a hollow hub at the lower extremity of the main supporting bracket of the gearing.

The fly wheel 21 is positioned between gear 18 and the main supporting bracket and carries an integral pinion 22 meshing withthe internal gear 18 and covered thereby, the fly wheel being mounted on a rotatable. shaft 23 supported on ball bearings 23' housed in a hollow hub positioned near the center of the main supporting bracket and intermediate between the bell crank 11 and the lowermost shaft 19.

The niain supporting bracket, whereon the bell crank 11, the fly wheel 21 and the internal gear 18 are all carried, is of the shape shown in detail in Figs. 4, 5 and 6, inclusive, and includes a straight rectangular body with side flanges 24 and 25, these flanges being drilled through at 13 to form a pivotal support for the bell crank 11. The casing is shaped to fit the rounded tapering outline of the tub and has side Wings 26 near the top end through which bolts may be passed into the tub, similar wings 27 being provided lower down for securing attachment to the chime of the tub. The upper end of this support- 110 ing bracket or casting comprises a laterally extending ledge 28 with a hole for receiving a bolt 29 (Fig. 3) passed throu h the stationary portion of the tub top. This ledge 28 contributes materially to the stability of the structure. Near the center of the bracket is the hollow hub 29 serving to support the race for the fly wheel. At the lower end of the bracket is the hollow hub 30 which supports the shaft 19 of the internal ear.

It wi 1 be seen that the several parts normally carried by the bracket, including the internal gear, the fly wheel, and the bell crank can all be assembled on the bracket before the bracket is installed on the tub. The assembly is a bench operation unvarying in character and free from the inconvenience and uncertainty in the tub room.

A to and fro movementfof the handle 12 in the hands of the operator will produce a rocking movement of the bell crank casting 11, and this will produce a forward and bac ward motion of the rack bar 5 with resu tant rotation of the agitator or dolly in alternately opposite directions. Energy transmitted through pitman 15 and the internal gear will serve to raise the fly wheel to a high speed, thereby smoothing out the irregular character of the load within the tub, assisting the operator in effecting the periodic reversals in direction of the agitator with its load of wet clothes.

To open the tub for inspection or for the addition or removal of clothing, it is not.

necessary to wait until the fly wheel comes to rest, for an upward swing of the cover on its hinges will serve to lift the rack bar 5 out of engagement with the dolly pinion, so that a further lifting of the cover will swing the rack bar upward into a substantially vertical osition above its point of pivotal connection with the bell crank 11. In this swinging movement of the rack bar it is guided and held through the slidin engagement of its eye 6 with the guide ro 7. When the cover is to be lowered, the

rack bar swings down with it into position for engagement with the dolly pinion. This arrangement oifers the advantage that the operator need not detach therack bar from its driving mechanism bQIOIG opening the cover, and can open and close the cover even while the fly wheel is in motion without regard to the particular position of the rack bar and its driving bell crank.

I am aware that changes in. details, and in many of the elements of the structure here illustrated, may be made without departin from'the'spirit of my invention as define by the appended claims.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. In a gearing mechanism, the combination of a support having a hinged member, member, a pinion on said vertical shaft, :1, guide bar on said hinged member, a rack mounted to reciprocate in mesh with said pinion and having sliding engagement with said guide bar, a bell crank mounted at the side of said support and connected to drive said rack bar, said connection being maintained when the hinged member is swung upward away from said support, a pitman connected to said bell-crank and a crank shaft operatively connected to drive said pitman.

'2. In a gearing mechanism, the combination of a support, a bracket carried by said support, a large gear mounted at the lower end of said bracket, a fly wheel mounted on said bracket above said gear, a pinion carried by said fly-wheel and meshing with said gear, a pitman operatively connected with said large gear, a bell crank pivoted to said bracket and pivoted to said pitman, a rack bar actuated from said bell crank, and a vertical shaft having operative connection with said rack bar.

3. In a gearing mechanism, the combination of a vertical shaft, a inion thereon, a rack bar meshing with said pinion, a'bell crank member operatively connected to re* ciprocate said rack bar, a pitman actuated from said bell crank, a large internal gear driven by said pitman, a small gear mesh: ing with said large internal gear, and a fly wheel operated by said small gear.

4. In a gearing mechanism, the combination of asupport, a bracket at the side of said support, a shaft carried by the lower end of said support, a combined internal gear and crank disk carried on said shaft, a secondshaft carried by said bracket, a fly wheel and pinion mounted on said shaft, said pinion meshing with said internal ear, a bell crank pivoted to said bracket and aving a handle socket, a pitman connected between the outer end of said bell crank and said crank disk, a'reciprocating rack actuated from said bell crank, and a load shaft operatively connected with said rack.

5. In a gearing mechanismfthe combination of a support having a hinged member, a vertical shaft carried by said hinged member, a pinion on said vertical shaft, 9. guide bar on said hinged member, a rack mounted to reciprocate in mesh with said pinion and having sliding engagement with said guide bar, a bell crank mounted at the side of said support to swing in a vertical plane toward and from said vertical shaft. and having pivotal connection with said rack bar, said hinged member being movable upward about its hinges to automatically disengage said rack bar from the pinion-of said vertical shaft through the guiding action of said guide bar on said rack bar.

6. In a gearing mechanism, the combinaa vertical shaft carried by said hinged ip'zaria tion of a suitable support, a bracket carried at the side of'said support and overlapping the top thereof, a bell crank pivoted to said bracket, a pitman connected to said bell crank, speeded gears and a fly wheel operatively turning in vertical planes and connected with said pitman, a vertical shaft carried by said support, and means for driving said shaft from said bell crank.

7.. In a gearing mechanism, the combination of a support having a hinged portion, a guide rod on said hinged portion, a verti cal shaft carried by said hinged portion, a pinion on its upper end, a rack meshing with said pinion and cont-rolled in its movements by said guide rod, a bracket carried by said support, a bell crank pivoted to said braclret and movable toward and from said vertical shaft, said bell crank being provided with an operating handle, a fly wheel and speeded gears supported by said bracket, and means for operatively connecting said bell crank to-said fly wheel through said speeded gears.

8. in a gearing mechanism, the combination of a sport, a bracket carriedby said did support, a y wheel mounted on a horizontal axis and supported by said bracket, a pinion for said fly wheel, an internal gear meshing with said pinion ahorizontal shaft carrying said internal gear and supported at the lower end. of said bracket, a pitrnan, and hand operated means for delivering power through said pitman to said internal gear to drive said fly wheel,

9. ln a gearing mechanism the combination of a vertical shaft, a pinion thereon, a reciprocating rack for driving said pinion, a fly wheel, speeded gears for driving said fly wheel, a pitman operatively connected to actuate said gears, a bell crank pivotally connected with said pitman and pivotally connected with said rack bar, and a single supporting member for said bell crank, said fly wheel and said fly wheel gears.

10. in a gearing mechanism, the combination of a support having a hinged member, a vertical shaft carried by said member, a pinion on said vertical shaft, a rack movable over said pinion to rotate said vertical shaft alternately in opposite directions, a bell crank positioned on said support and pivotally connected with said rack bar, said bell crank being mounted to swing in a vertical plane, and a guide on said hinged memher for lifting said rack out of engagement with its pinion when the hinged member is swung upward, said hell crank being movable to and fro in its vertical planeeven after said rack bar has been swung upward into a substantially vertical position out of engagement with the pinion of said vertical shaft.

lln witness whereof, ll hereunto subscribe my name to this specification in the presence of two witnesses.

HQWAD 15. SEER. Witnesses:

.. H. it. came, L, Prcnnna 

